Foreign investors grew their stakes in China by more than 40 percent over the past 12 months, a record rate of growth, and now hold more than $800 billion in Chinese assets, the Financial Times reported. Investors have snatched up $35.3 billion in Chinese equities this year as of 15 July, a 49-percent jump from...
Tag: jul 20 2021
CHINA’S SECOND-QUARTER GROWTH ACCELERATES
China’s economy grew 12.7 percent during the first half of this year, including a 7.9-percent spurt during the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said, producing value worth 53.2 trillion yuan, or about $8.2 trillion. “The growth shows that China’s economy has walked out of the impact of coronavirus and has already returned to...
TIN PRICES SET NEW RECORD
The price of tin closed above $34,000 a ton last week, surpassing the old record price of $33,600 set in 2011 as recovery from the Great Recession was under way. Tin is a basic industrial metal used to make magnets, car parts, and electronics, among other things. It coats steel cans to retard corrosion and...
INVESTORS GLUM ON GLOBAL GROWTH BUT BRIGHT ON EUROPE
A majority of fund managers say the world economy’s post-crisis growth has already peaked, even though fears of a resurgent COVID virus only rank fifth on their list of worries, according to Bank of America’s July survey of 239 investors collectively handling $742 billion of clients’ money. The major concerns are inflation and the risk...
INFLATION PRESSURES RISING
U.S. inflation sped up to 5.4 percent in June and reached 2.5 percent in the U.K, a pace not seen three in three years, the Financial Times reported, causing a growing number of economists to fear a return to 1970s-style runaway inflation. Inflation in Britain has mirrored that in the U.S. but with a few...
PEPSICO RAISES 2021 EARNINGS FORECAST AMID RISING SALES
Pepsico slurped up 21 percent more in beverage sales during this year’s second quarter than a year earlier, when the COVID War shut down bars, restaurants, and public gatherings. Consumers used some of those extra drinks to wash down 6 percent more Frito Lay chips and other snacks than in the second quarter of 2020....
INTEL MAY BUY RIVAL CHIP MAKER GLOBALFOUNDRIES
In an attempt to capitalize on the worldwide shortage of computer chips, Intel is mulling the purchase of competitor GlobalFoundries, a deal that would rank as Intel’s biggest buy yet and value GlobalFoundries at as much as $30 billion. GlobalFoundries is based in the U.S. but owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. Intel, with...
RESTAURANTS, RETAILERS SPROUTING AGAIN IN MANHATTAN
During 2021’s second quarter, restaurant chains signed 23 new leases in Manhattan, taking 83,333 square feet of space, much of which already included a kitchen area and equipment abandoned when eateries shut during last year’s crisis, the Washington Post reported. In the same period, clothing retailers inked 10 leases covering 49,236 square feet; health care...
COST OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS SOARS 26 PERCENT
The cost of materials a contractor needs to put up a building zoomed 26.3 percent from June 2020 through June 2021, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGCA) reported. Lumber prices have doubled over the period, but eased slightly since. (See “Lumber Prices Add $36,000 to Cost of New Home,” Trends Journal, 4 May 2021). ...